A man who refused to leave a magistrates' court and ended up assaulting two security men has been jailed.

Defendant Lawrence William Davies - who regularly sits in on court hearings - was asked to leave Caernarfon Magistrates' Court on February 28 after he was seen drinking water from his own cup.

He denied using violence and said that he was defending himself.

Davies, 58, of Egerton Road, Colwyn Bay, said he had not done anything wrong and was simply standing up for his rights and those of everyone else.

As a type two diabetic he needed to drink water regularly and everyone had the human right to drink water, he said.

His arguments were rejected by deputy District Judge Steven Jonas and he was convicted of assaulting Edward Wyn Jones and Ian Cutler, and damaging Mr Cutler's spectacles.

He deliberate threw water onto them and landed blows on them as he was being ejected, said prosecuting barrister Andrew Downey.

But Lawrence was cleared of a public order offence against North Wales Police solicitor Gareth Preston.

Davies was jailed for four weeks for the assaults and received a consecutive four weeks - making an eight week sentence in all - because he was in breach of an earlier suspended prison sentence for harrassment.

The judge, sitting at North East Wales Magistrates' Court at Mold, rejected a prosecution application for a restraining order banning him from all magistrates' court and crown courts in the North Wales region.

That, he said, was not appropriate or proportionate.

Judge Jonas said that there was a reason why people were not allowed to take liquid into court - it could be used as a weapon.

If the defendant wanted to drink water then he could have left the court to do so, or he could have asked the court staff for water.

During the present trial he requested a jug of water and he was given it.

But there was no human right to bring his own liquid into a court room.

He said the security men were entitled to remove the cup when he refused to hand it over.

Judges were entitled to to make sure that courts ran smoothly and without incident and if anyone refused to leave they could be removed.

The judge rejected Davies' self defence claims and said he was sure he "deliberately threw water in their direction", landed blows on the security men in the lobby as he was being ejected, and recklessly damaged the watch.

But he was not satisfied that his behaviour was such that he intended Mr Preston to believe that unlawful violence would be used against him.

The Judge warned Davies: "If you were to commit any further offence in a court room it would be regarded as very, very serious indeed."

Davies, who represented himself, said that he did not intend to attend court again.

But he said that he was not trying to commit crime and would appeal against the judge's decisions because he did not agree with them.

The prosecutor told how Davies was in court four with a cup of liquid and Mr Preston told him it was now allowed.

Mr Preston spoke to security officers who asked him to hand over the cup and when he refused he was asked to leave.

They went to escort him out but there was a struggle when blows were landed.

Water was thrown at them and the watch was broken in the struggle.

Solicitor Andy Holliday, appointed by the court to cross-examine witnesses, suggested that Davies had simply acted in self-defence.

Davies in his own evidence denied being confrontational, disrespectful or disruptive.

"The disruption came from court staff," he alleged, and accused the security officers of being arrogant and confrontational.

The court was told that there were clear signs to say that food or drinks should not be taken into court but Davies said that he did not remember seeing them.

He said he had asked one officer "what authority he had to speak to me like that?" and asked him to put in writing.

Mr Downey said that the legal adviser had put out a tannoy asking for assistance and the district judge sitting on the day had asked that he

be removed. He asked if Davies accepted that was because of his behaviour?

He replied: "I was standing up for my rights."

It was a human right to be able to drink water and that could not be restricted to any human being, he said. "It was an abuse of my human rights."

He would not have taken a cup of tea or a can of Coke into the public gallery.

Told that his behaviour was causing concern to other court users, Davies said he was reacting "to being approached by officious court staff."

He denied that he had taken umbridge or that he was angry. "I was prepared to stand up for my rights , the rights of all of us," he said.

"I was calm at all times. I don't break the law. I respect the law but I do stand my ground. It was unlawful for them to try and remove me from the court because I had water. I was not doing anything wrong."

He had resisted but said "I resisted under the law."

After the convictions, he complained that there had been "a litany of malicious prosecutions from 2011 until now"

He added: "I believe the State is persistently and maliciously pursing me in anything I do."

Davies said he was shocked and upset at the prospect of prison and told the judge: "I do not want to go to prison today."